James Arvey - Jamie Pics and Final Thoughts

Note by Kelly Deeds:  I've uploaded pics of James during our visit.  Some might be "find Jamie" and others are of him in action.  It has been an absolute pleasure to be a part of this trip and especially of traveling with James and Noah both.  It makes a trip great when there's not much to do but sit back and enjoy because of the high quality of both individuals and what great representatives for CAP, USA and IACE they have been.  You'll have to ask James about the pics.

As my first post on the blog, ironically I will be posting about my final thoughts about the trip as we end this trip of a life time. First of all I chose China because I wanted a culture shock, and I received my wish ten fold. Just from arriving at the airport we all saw just how much different China is than the US, and then on the way to the first hotel we were all on our toes seeing the driving for the first time. As we are waiting for our plane flight to leave Shanghai to Los Angeles, I am used to the driving here mostly (if my parents read this please know I will not drive like that when I get home), I can barter like a pro, and I can even drink soup with chopsticks. I have learned a tremendous amount about Chinese culture, history, and etiquette. I have always heard so much about Confucius and I have even read Sun Tzu's Art of War, so I was very excited to see their birthplace here in Shandong Province. But most of all I enjoyed learning about the providences aviation industry, after all I am an air cadet. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the Qingdao Airport and their facilities, the manufacturing of the Diamond DA-42, and all the other numerous aviation facilities. However, the highlight of my trip was the friendships I made with the Chinese Air Cadets. I have already been emailing them back and forth and I hope that they last a lifetime. As I wait in the Shanghai Airport preparing to leave China, I have already left my group in Qingdao. I will miss all of my new friends both Chinese and foreign cadets. The foreign cadets plan to have a reunion at this time next year in the United Kingdom, where 4 of the 10 foreign cadets will live by that time, to which I look forward to seeing my friends already.

Dinner with Chairman Sun, Chinese Gift giving practice

It was our last formal dinner last night.  This dinner was with Chairman Sun who is currently Chairman of the Shandong Aviation Group including an airline, training facility, hotels, aircraft maintenance bases and aircraft production (Bin Ao Aircraft).  He previously was the Shandong Province Chairman and party leader and if I understood correctly was part of the central committee (I'll look him up later).

I was privileged to gain the left seat to the Chairman last night and just talking with him you can tell he carries considerable weight.  Everywhere we went in the province when they heard we were traveling with Chairman Sun's staff and program we were immediately treated like Rock Stars.  Whenever we passed a significant bridge, building, park etc. that wasn't 1000 years old we were told Chairman Sun did it.  The way we understand it the Chairman was the major planning force behind the modernization of the province and moving society forward in this part of China.  He spent a day traveling with us and like I previously wrote part of his staff has been with us the entire way.

Chinese trips and hosts are very interesting with lots of cultural standards.  If you are reading this and planning a trip to China with hosts remember to bring plenty of giveaways and big gift for your host as you will receive one from them.  We all received Shandong aviation aircraft models along with certificates and other items.  We presented multiple gifts to Chairman Sun and all of our escorts and support staff for the trip.  We had a planning meeting the night before and pooled our resources then while shopping during the day we finished up gifts.  The interesting part was we had a Wei Wei and Tina negotiate on a few items that they thought were personal take home gifts that we presented to them surprise surprise  LOL

Attached are a few photo's from the dinner.  My camera battery died and my cellphone is full so I traded a few pics with UK Jonathan.

Joe the bus driver was also invited and performed with his saxophone as you can tell by the pics.